Voluntary ‘donations’ versus reward-oriented ‘contributions’: two experiments on framing in funding mechanisms

In an artefactual field experiment, we implemented a crowdfunding campaign for an institute’s summer party and compared donation and contribution framings. We found that the use of the word ‘donation’ generated higher revenue than the use of ‘contribution.’ While the individuals receiving the donation framing gave substantially larger amounts, those receiving the contribution framing responded more strongly to reward thresholds and suggestions. An additional survey experiment on MTurk indicated that the term ‘donation’ triggers more positive emotional responses and that emotions are highly correlated with giving. It appears that making a donation is perceived as a more voluntary act and is thus more successful at generating warm glow than making a contribution. We surmise that this extends to other funding mechanisms. Supplementary information The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s10683-022-09759-6.


Appendix A Additional tables and figures
The figure above shows the numbers of gifts according to the institutional groups to which the contributors belonged (in 10 cases there is doubling as, for example, secretaries belong both to the administration and to their respective departments). For data protection reasons, we do not label the groups. We also do not correct for the size of the groups. While some groups cluster more around certain days, this does not appear to be a general pattern and may have occurred at random.       Although we were unable to determine exact participation at the party, it seemed to be similar to previous years. Below, we present the numbers of people who donated, those who were eligible to take part in games, and those who actually took part in the games. Note: * The exact number of attendees is unknown, though we estimate it to be larger than 130. Some guests brought family members; some employees joined for a short time and went back to work; some came early and left early, while others came and left late. Given the many points of entry and exit and different timings, it was not possible to count the number of attendees. Games and experiment 1 were organized in the form of stations, while experiment 2 took place at one point in time. Not all eligible participants took part in the experiments for various reasons, for example, timing or preferring to chat with others.  suggestion treatment to €10 in the €20 suggestion treatment. Since the shares of individuals that contributed to the buffet were similar between the two treatments, we do not see any substitution between monetary and non-monetary donations. Figure 6 presents the distribution of different gift categories by the suggested level (€10 and €20) and frame. There is a visible shift in the distribution towards larger amounts with higher suggestions. Moreover, the mode increases from €5 with lower suggestions to €10 with higher suggestions. Table 13 confirms the impression from Figure 6. The giving frequency of €5 is higher with lower suggestions, and this difference is statistically significant. The giving frequency of €10 as well as that of €15 and up are higher with higher suggestions, though only the first difference is statistically significant. While the overall monetary return is higher with higher suggestions, it is so only by 12%, and this difference is not statistically significant.

Appendix C Individual characteristics and heterogenous treatment effects
In this section, we explore the available information on the personal characteristics of the participants in our field experiment. However, one must be cautious with the interpretation, since these characteristics are likely related to the actual attendees of the summer party and this, in turn, with participation in the crowdfunding campaign.
In that the reference group is the remainder including current guests, alumni, and affiliated researchers not on the institute's payroll. First, we see that the response rate of postdocs, PhD students, and administrative staff is significantly higher. In terms of positive gifts, those given by professors clearly stand out (an increase by €30). The positive gifts by student research assistants are significantly lower (by almost €6). The combined result-the return-is significantly lower for student research assistants.
Next, we present separate and more detailed comparisons between the group of academics and the administrative staff, subgroups of the academics only, and between male and female e-mail recipients that confirm the above results. We also tested for heterogeneous treatment effects and found that females responded more often when the donation framing was used and that the administrative staff members were less responsive to higher suggestions. 2 1 We did not control for block fixed effects here because this would only be feasible in Column I. 2 We chose gender and administrative status for the heterogeneity analysis since this divides the sample into relatively large groups. Gender differences in positive versus negative frames in public good games have been studied by Fujimoto and Park (2010), who found that gift levels are similar for both genders in the positive frame, while male subjects give significantly lower amounts in the negative frame. With our interpretation of the donation frame being more positive, our results differ from Fujimoto and Park (2010). The results in Table 17 suggest that female participants gave significantly more often than males in the donation frame, but this might have been driven by more females working in administration and thus having lower incomes as well as by higher participation from the administrative staff, which seems in line with the results in Table 18. Figure 7 shows the average returns in both frames by academic status. This status also corresponds to large income (also age) differences. While in the contribution frame, the gifts seem not to be strongly related to status/income, they are in the donation frame. 3

Appendix D E-mail content in the field experiment
First email (Different versions are marked with curly and angle brackets) Dear (name of the institute)-ers and friends, This year our (name of the institute) summer party follows the motto There is such a thing like a free lunch.
The party will take place on Tuesday, the 5 th of July, beginning at 4pm. And so this time we do not want to install a cash box on the day, however we do need your contributions {donations} to a crowdfunding campaign now. Below you will find more information.
The (department name) is planning a party with:

[Food & Drinks]:
We are planning a BBQ with organic sausages that come from appropriately treated animals as well as the usual assortment of alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages. In addition, there will be the well renowned (name of the institute) potluck buffet of salads and cakes.
[Special Entertainment]: We are planning several (team) games and hands-on experiments, music, as well as a small campfire. Childcare and fun activities for children will be organized as usual by the Family Service. As usual, please send the information regarding the number of children for whom you need child care, and their respective ages to: (e-mail address) by June 24, 2016.
In order to ensure that it will be a wonderful party, we are now starting a

Contribute {Donate} to our summer party, please!
For our summer party, we need your support with the food and drinks. You can do this through in-kind or money contributions, or preferably both! So, please, prepare salads and bake cakes for the 5 th of July, and please also open your wallet (now)! For each contribution {donation} there is a Thank You, staggered as follows:  We look forward to your active participation in the crowdfunding campaign and, also, to a great party, The (department name) * The revenues will also be used to cover various minor costs, such as the purchase of bread, rolls, paper plates and cutlery as well as the music organization.

First reminder
Dear (name of the institute)-ers and friends, Maybe you have overlooked our email last week starting a crowdfunding campaign for this year's summer party (see below). We really believe that a party is much nicer without cash boxes so we hope you will join the crowd and help fund the party.
Remember that if you contribute {donate} this week until Wednesday it will generate a match from an anonymous benefactor of five additional euros.

Second reminder
Re: Last match day ((name of the institute)summer party 2016) Dear (name of the institute)-ers and friends, while our crowdfunding campaign for the summer party will continue until end of June, TODAY is the last day where every contribution {donation} that we get will be matched by an additional 5 € from an anonymous benefactor.
Until yesterday we collected inspiring 495€ (+185€ Boni) + 16 buffet pledges. Many thanks to all contributors {donors} so far! However, we are far away from the threshold we aim at (Needless to say, it won't even cover the drinks). Therefore, we need you to 20 join the crowd now!
To clarify all open questions, let us explain the purpose and working of this campaign once more: Everything what was traditionally organized and more: food (including vegetarian burgers and organic sausages), drinks (alcoholic and non-alcoholic), as well as music WILL BE FREE on the day. In addition, there will be the well renowned WZB potluck buffet of salads and cakes (also FREE).
The rewards offered within the crowdfunding campaign are made only possible by the additional efforts of our department, are by no means standard, and should serve as additional motivation for the participation in the crowdfunding campaign.
Follow the progress of the campaign at (web address)

Third reminder
Last call: summer party crowdfunding and program Dear (name of the institute)-ers and friends, Less than a week is left till our amazing (name of the institute) summer party 2016 which takes place on Tuesday, 5 th of July, starting at 4 p.m. Since we don't have a huge external sponsor this year, we need to rely on your participation in the crowdfunding campaign to finance the party! Until yesterday we collected inspiring 980€ (+395€ Boni) + 25 buffet pledges. Many thanks to all contributors {donors} so far! However, we are still missing the threshold we aim at.
Two days left for contributions {donations}! Therefore, we need you to join the crowd now! (contributions {donations} are collected till the end of June by (name), Room (number), 9-12 a.m. and 1-5 p.m.) Remember: If the average monetary contribution {donation} is 20 €<10€>, we need 100<200> participants in the campaign to cover the expected costs. From 4:00 p.m. Tournaments (in order to take part in Kicker (Foosball) or Table  Tennis (Ping Pong) tournament you must sign up (alone or in pairs) till Friday 2 July with (e-mail address). You will be assigned the staring time.
Kubb will be open for spontaneous teams.) 5:00 p.m. Experiment 2 (Those who are eligible will get a separate Email with instructions. It is necessary to be on time since the experiment takes place simultaneously for all participants. You must also bring either your smart phone, tablet or laptop with an internet connection with you. There is a chance to win 40 or 10 Euros.) 5:30 p.m. We play your songs 6:00 p.m. The results and winners of the experiments will be announced 6:30-8:00 p.m. We are pleased to announce that 8name) and his band (name) (web address) will play at our party 6:30 p.m. Long drinks stand will be opened Follow the progress of the crowdfunding campaign at (web address)

All best
The (name of the institute) Party Team